Cowell: Aston Martin must improve upgrade success rate in 2025

Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell has laid bare the development challenges that plagued the team during the 2024 Formula 1 season, addressing the need to improve its upgrade success rate as it looks to return to competitiveness.

After a strong 2023 campaign in which the team claimed eight podium finishes and scored 280 points, Aston Martin’s performance fell off dramatically in 2024.

Despite retaining fifth place in the constructors’ championship, Team Silverstone’s points tally plummeted to just 94, and they failed to reach the podium even once.

Cowell, who joined Aston Martin last year and was recently promoted to team principal, has identified the team’s lack of effective upgrades as a key area for improvement.

"Winning the World Championship for Updates"

Speaking candidly, Cowell acknowledged the team’s struggles to translate its development efforts into on-track performance.

“There is no lack of effort throughout the team,” Cowell said in an interview published on the Aston Martin website.

“We definitely won the world championship for the most updates in 2024, but those updates didn’t deliver the lap time – and what everybody wants in this business is to deliver lap time.”

Cowell emphasized that while innovation inevitably involves trial and error, the team’s success rate in upgrades must improve.

“That’s not to say we must get it right every time,” he explained. “I’ve seen statistics that show that in true research and development environments, a 20% success rate is high.

“If we can get a 20% success rate then that’s good, but the difference is that this needs to happen at the AMR Technology Campus and not at the track.”

Leveraging Aston Martin’s New Facilities and Tools

Aston Martin has invested heavily in its infrastructure, with renovations and expansions at its AMR Technology Campus, including the development of a state-of-the-art wind tunnel.

Cowell believes these tools will be instrumental in bridging the gap between simulations and real-world performance.

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“We need to make sure that all our tools and processes at the Technology Campus are working well enough to ensure that whenever we take an update to the circuit, we are at least 90% certain that it’s going to work on the track and meet our expectations,” he said.

“It’s not easy to achieve, but it’s what we need to be aiming for. We’ve got very powerful CFD [computational fluid dynamics] tools and the most advanced wind tunnel in the sport coming online.

“They are only simulations; there will always be the risk of data not quite matching up with what we find on the circuit. But our simulations can give us a robust steer, and I’m confident we can get to the point where we’re right 90% of the time.

“That’s the level that world championship-winning teams are operating at, so that needs to be our aim at a minimum.”

Preparing for 2026 – and Beyond

While 2026 looms large as a pivotal year for Aston Martin – marking the introduction of new regulations and a works partnership with Honda – Cowell stressed that the team’s focus extends far beyond that milestone.

“2026 is a huge opportunity for us, but it’s not just about ’26; it’s about ’27 and ’28 and ’29 and ’30. It’s about building a team that can achieve sustained success,” he said.

“Yes, ’26 is important, but it’s just another step on the journey. 2025 is also an important step on our journey, and we are focused on improving our performance this year and carrying positive momentum into 2026.”

The Challenges Ahead

Cowell acknowledged the complexity of Aston Martin’s journey as the team transitions from being a Mercedes customer outfit to a Honda works team.

“We mustn’t underestimate the scale of the challenge to bring all these elements together,” he cautioned.

“We’ve got to make the transition from a customer team to a works team at the same time as the new regulations come into play, and we’ve got to design and manufacture our own gearbox along with other components of the car that have previously been supplied to us by Mercedes.”

Before Aston Martin can fully capitalize on its 2026 opportunities, the team’s priority is to lay a stronger foundation in 2025.

Improving its upgrade process and maximizing the potential of its cutting-edge facilities will be critical to narrowing the gap to the top teams.

With Cowell’s expertise and vision, Aston hopes to reignite its competitive edge and pave the way for sustained success in the years ahead.

As Lawrence Stroll’s squad takes its next steps, the focus will be on building momentum and ensuring that every development move brings them closer to their ultimate goal: fighting for world championships.

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